Four of the five Springfield Crew members have been released on bail; the one Genovese associate still being held is Ralph Santaniello, 49. Believed to be running the Springfield Crew for the Genovese crime family, he was transported in October to New York City for a hearing that is not slated to occur anytime soon. He is the only mobster arrested in August who wasn't granted bail. Others being held were already imprisoned when the indictment came down.

Why is Ralph Santaniello still being held in Brooklyn?

Santaniello is running Springfield reportedly with the backing of his father, Amedeo Santaniello, a longtime Springfield mobster and a former confidante of Genovese boss Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, now deceased. Also backing the younger Santaniello is longtime area tough guy Albert Calvanese, a convicted loan shark who, like Santaniello, the father, is not charged in the "East Coast LCN Syndicate" case.

The four other members of the Genovese crime family's Springfield Crew who were arrested are Giovanni "Johnny Cal" Calabrese, 53; and Gerald Daniele, 51, both from Longmeadow; Francesco "Frank" Depergola, 60, from Springfield; and Richard Valentini, 51, from East Longmeadow.

All five have pleaded not guilty.

"Frank" Depergola arrested this past August.

At an Aug. 11th detention hearing in federal court in Springfield, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson initially suspended bail for all five. Then on Aug. 16, she allowed the four out, holding Santaniello, who faces gambling, loansharking and extortion-related charges.

Robertson set Calabrese's bail at $100,000; both Daniele and Valentini were released on $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. All three defendants also must submit to GPS tracking, as well as avoid making contact with victims and witnesses; they all must also surrender any guns.

Santaniello's "Casual Brutality"
Santaniello and Calabrese were taped on surveillance threatening a towing company owner at his Hampden home in an effort to prompt him to pay up $50,000.

The towing company owner, described as "Victim One" in court documents, was told that if he didn't pay up soon, the two gangsters would decapitate him and bury his headless body in his backyard. (At least they didn't plan to bring it to a topless bar.)

Apparently, the audio and video recordings showed Santaniello in such a bad light that this seems to have swayed the judge's thoughts about bail.

"The evidence shows that Santaniello displayed a casual brutality in his exchanges with Victim One," Judge Roberston wrote in her detainment order.

"Santaniello slapped Victim 1 across the face during the first meeting at which he allegedly demanded money, and at a subsequent meeting, Santaniello ripped open Victim One's shirt to see if (he) was wearing a recording device," noted Judge Robertson.

Santaniello and Depergola also face RICO conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan in connection with a $30,000 illegal loan to someone at a Chicopee pizza shop. (It seems that the person seeking the funding was the undercover federal agent who had infiltrated the Genovese crime family).

The loan was set up apparently at the urging of New York Genovese crime family capo Eugene "Rooster" O'Nofrio, 74. O'Nofrio, who was named as one of the three overseers, or bosses, of the East Coast LCN Enterprise, has historically been in touch with the crime family's Springfield Crew, law enforcement sources told Mass.Live, which reported most of these details. Perhaps O'Nofrio had assumed Nigro's role after he went away.

Ironically, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Robertson had gone to great length to question prosecution lawyers and the U.S. Marshals during an August hearing. She'd apparently been seeking to ensure that Santaniello didn't get stranded in the prison system, which apparently happened anyway.

A bail hearing scheduled for Nov. 18 was indefinitely postponed; the specific reason for the delay in Santaniello's case remains unknown.

Daniel D. Kelly, Santaniello's lawyer, argued in papers that his client isn't even in the Mafia."He is not alleged to have a membership in the LCN but rather was noted as an associate." (Apparently he doesn't realize what a mob associate is.)

"An FBI agent previously testified in court that Santaniello and Depergola were teed up for sanctioning, or "being made"... but the Genovese crime family had shut down membership," Mass.Live reported.

"Currently the books are closed with the Genovese crime family. Therefore no one is being made," Agent Robert Zanolli testified in August.

The Fed's filed a motion that noted how Santaniello had effectively played the role of the "classic" mobster in his ability to threaten violence.

The filing noted: "He also threatened Victim One, telling him that this was his 'last warning,' but that he was 'going to be nice' before [he, meaning Santaniello] blow up again.'

When Victim One stated his inability to pay immediately, the defendant said:

"See, when you talk like that you're going to get your f***ing head cracked.' Unbeknownst to the Defendant, this entire confrontation was recorded by law enforcement, who were hiding on the premises."

Defense attorney Kelly calls the delay "inexplicable."

April Fools Day 2011 No Joke for "Big Al"
The mob's presence in Springfield, Mass., for at least 100 years, according to law enforcement.

On April 1st, 2011, following a three-week-long trial, Arthur Nigro, former Genovese crime family acting boss, was found guilty of two murders, an attempted murder, and other crimes. Nigro, of the Bronx, stood trial alongside the Genovese family's Springfield Crew enforcers Fotios "Freddy" Geas, of West Springfield, Mass., and his brother Ty Geas, of Westfield, Mass.

The murders of "Big Al" Bruno and former crew associate Gary D. Westerman, and the plotting to kill a union boss were the charges that won the three mobsters life sentences. (They also were convicted on charges that they had extorted victims throughout Springfield, Mass., Hartford, Conn., and Manhattan.)

Bruno murder scene from 2003 hit.

Nearly a year ago, in December 2015, reports noted that Freddy Geas and Nigro had filed fresh motions as part of an effort to get a U.S. District Court Judge in Manhattan to vacate their life sentences.

One of the appeals highlights "new details about government witnesses," including New York's John Bologna and Springfield-based strip club magnate James Santaniello.

Nigro ran the Springfield faction from the Bronx. The Bruno hit was said to have nearly annihilated the Genovese crime family's presence in Greater Springfield. But it seems they were busy rebuilding when the Feds swooped in this summer. (Amedeo Santaniello, Bruno's longtime second-in-command throughout the 1990s had a major falling out with Bruno; the two never repaired the relationship.)

Amedeo Santaniello, Bruno's longtime second-in-command.

Bruno and Gary Westerman were killed by upstart gangsters looking to usurp power from Bruno, a longtime figure in Western Massachusetts' organized crime landscape.

Arillotta, the Geases, Fusco and longtime Western Massachusetts wiseguy Felix Tranghese got hold of a court document that referenced Bruno discussing Fusco's standing in the Genovese crime family with an FBI agent in 2002. They brought this evidence to the Bronx, to show to Nigro and others. (Bruno was never found to be an FBI informant; this may have been the report that retired FBI Agent Hedges was questioned about last year.)

The Springfield group won permission from Nigro and other New York bosses to kill Bruno.

But weeks prior to the Bruno hit, Westerman was done away with.

Viewed primarily by his brother-in-law Arillotta as a rival, Westerman also was confirmed to have been a state police informant.

According to testimony, the Geases lured Westerman to a home in Agawam using the cover story that they were going to pull off a lucrative home invasion. Fotios Geas shot Westerman as Arillotta and Fusco allegedly waited in a nearby garage of the home they were "planning" to invade, which was out in the woods.

Arillotta testified that he and Fusco were among the four who brought Westerman to the location where he was killed -- actually, he was both shot and bludgeoned (Geas's aim wasn't that great) and finally buried in a nearby wooded area.

Westerman's remains were found in 2010 when Arillotta led investigators to the grave after his arrest for the Bruno murder.

Arillotta's testimony was said to be "critical" in terms of winning convictions against the Geas brothers and Nigro.

The Geas brothers previously had served as Arillotta's enforcers and had assisted him in his efforts to take over Springfield's underworld.

DOMINICK CICALE, A FORMER CAPO IN THE BONANNO CRIME FAMILY, ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS
In 1999, Bronx-based Dominick Cicale finished his second years-long bit and hooked up with Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, then an up-and-coming member of the Bronx faction of the Bonanno crime family.

Initially he'd been closely affiliated with "Big Ernie" in the Genovese family.

Roy DeMeo was a ruthless killer -- not a nice guy, not a guy worthy of admiration in any way -- but in the context of Cosa Nostra he is an endlessly fascinating portrait of a mobster who had a great business sense.

Paulie Castellano didn't want to make Roy, but eventually was too greedy not to--Roy was bringing in too much cash to not notice, combined with a blood lust that enabled him to commit torture murders not common even for mobsters.
Roy had a crew of young wannabes, many of whom would eventually get their buttons, such as Gemini Twins Anthony Senter and Joey Testa, who hooked up with the Lucchese's after leaving Roy.

As reported, an FBI bug installed in the home of Gambino family soldier Angelo Ruggiero picked up an intriguing conversation between Angelo and Gene Gotti, a brother of John Gotti.

In the conversation, it is revealed Paul Castellano had put out a hit on DeMeo, but was having difficulty finding someone willing to do the job. Gene Gotti said his brother Joh…

He was considered a dangerous man. A truck hijacker and gun-runner, he was tied to two crime families (the Bonannos and Lucheses) and operated a swag-filled warehouse.

He was known for his nice gold watches and good suits. He also preferred driving around in a Mercedes.

In reality, his name was not Vincent Spinelli, and he was far from being a criminal; in fact, he was an NYPD officer working undercover. The operation lasted three years and led to 42 arrests (21 were reputed Bonanno mobsters, the rest presumably were Luchese members, plus assorted associates -- plus there was at least one grandmother who lived in a social club in The Bronx).

Peter "Peter Pasta" Pellegrino, formerly of the Babylon, New York, restaurant known as Peter’s Italian Restaurant, really is -- or was -- a gangster.

The once-promising Bonanno member who appeared after the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired, now calls himself a brokester. And the Bonanno crime family, with which he was once affiliated has disowned him.

So has the rest of New York's Cosa Nostra, according to FBI documents and Peter Pasta himself.

But before all that he appeared on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares in which he acted very much like the mobster he allegedly was trying to become around the time of filming. (See Peter's Italian Restaurant menu here.)

Back then Peter Pasta was an up-and-coming Bonanno associate who "earned" $15 grand a week bookmaking.

Anthony Colombo died on January 6 in San Diego of complications from diabetes.Anthony was Joseph Colombo's son.When Joseph Colombo learned a boss was planning to take out other New York bosses in order to take control of the Mafia's Commission, Colombo showed fealty to Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese, two of the key targets of the plotting. As a reward for his loyalty, Colombo was then named boss of one of New York's Five Families -- the Profaci family, which was rechristened the Colombo family.I've been working on a story about Anthony but meanwhile I thought it appropriate to republish a previous story we did with Anthony, a Q&A about a book he'd recently written about his father's shooting at the second Italian-American unity day.We want to thank Anthony Jr. for assisting Cosa Nostra News in getting the interview; we offer him and the Colombo family our solemn condolences.Anthony Colombo recently took the time to answer some questions for the following …

Year's Most Popular

Peter "Peter Pasta" Pellegrino, formerly of the Babylon, New York, restaurant known as Peter’s Italian Restaurant, really is -- or was -- a gangster.

The once-promising Bonanno member who appeared after the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired, now calls himself a brokester. And the Bonanno crime family, with which he was once affiliated has disowned him.

So has the rest of New York's Cosa Nostra, according to FBI documents and Peter Pasta himself.

But before all that he appeared on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares in which he acted very much like the mobster he allegedly was trying to become around the time of filming. (See Peter's Italian Restaurant menu here.)

Back then Peter Pasta was an up-and-coming Bonanno associate who "earned" $15 grand a week bookmaking.

NOTE: We will update this -- again, we post it as it includes some questionable assertions. Let us know what you find correct or not, in the comments....We also hear that a friend of ours is sick -- we want to wish him well.... Get better, guy!
Many high-profile organized crime figures reportedly hail from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Many Bensonhurst wiseguys are gone today, dead, in prison or Witness Protection -- or in New Jersey.... Unless of course, they are in another part of Brooklyn or another borough or Long Island, or somewhere else (to cover all bases).

It's one of gangland's most high-profile, enigmatic hits -- and the identity of the killer has been debated for decades.

Thomas "Tommy Two-Guns" DeSimone killed a made member of the Mafia -- and for that, among other things, he was killed in what's been described as a classic setup. The truth is, we know very little about this murder, including who pulled the trigger. (Or fired up the chainsaw depending on who you believe). DeSimone, technically, disappeared, meaning there's zero evidence as to how he was killed; in fact, it can't be said with absolute certainty that he was killed.

Still, he was killed. Guys like him don't just disappear into thin air. They'd never leave New York because everything they want -- a certain lifestyle, basically -- is in New York and cannot be duplicated anywhere else.